This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

PHOENIX—The United States is moving on to Round 2 of the World Baseball Classic after a 9-4 victory over Team Canada at Chase Field on Sunday.

Canada, meanwhile, is heading home.

“You always try to look forward, but we’re disappointed that we’re not going to the second round,” manager Ernie Whitt said. “That was our objective coming into this tournament. The way (Sunday’s) game was being played, I was happy in the situation we were at.”

In the end, Team Canada just wasn’t deep enough in either its batting order or its pitching staff. There were too many holes, too many outs in the Canadian lineup. Up the middle should be the strength of any team that expects to win. Veteran Pete Orr at second base, young Cale Iorg at short and Tyson Gillies in centre field, batting back-to-back-to-back in the Canadian order, were not good enough. In three games they combined for three hits in 35 at-bats. Too many holes.

But despite the ups and downs of the weekend, being embarrassed by Italy on Friday and brawling with Mexico on Saturday, Whitt’s crew reached a point Sunday when the everything appeared to be working in their favour. Up 3-2 after seven innings, Canada was handing the ball to two major-league pitchers, Jim Henderson and John Axford, for the eighth and ninth innings, respectively. What is it they say about the best-laid plans?

Article Continued Below

“You have a game plan and you draw it up just like that,” Whitt said. “You have your best pitchers closing out the game for you. Then again, it doesn’t always come out the way you expect it to.”

Henderson allowed the first two men to reach base and then with one out, Adam Jones crushed a double up the alley in left-centre, giving Team USA its first lead. Scott Mathieson entered and allowed a third Henderson run to score. He started the ninth, but was relieved in time for Axford to give up a three-run double to Jones, who ended the day with six RBIs.

The lack of any real pitching depth forced Whitt’s hand far too often over the three days. It seemed that with every pitching change he was merely rolling the dice. Then, trailing by a run on Sunday, Whitt allowed Mathieson to start the ninth down a run with Axford in the bullpen.

“He’s your closer,” Whitt said after Team USA added four runs in the ninth. “To me, I had confidence in (Mathieson). That’s a power arm that closes for the team in Japan and has done a nice job. I don’t like that we were a run down but we were in the ballgame at that time and we just wanted to keep it close. And I felt that if we were within one run, then we had a chance. But Ax threw an inning yesterday. I didn’t want to use him as much as we did tonight even. If we lost the game, we lost the game but the fact is you always try to keep your closer for the last inning.”

At the next WBC in 2017, Canada will need a much deeper pitching staff. Starters Scott Richmond, Scott Diamond and Ryan Dempster were unavailable for WBC play. But the real lack of depth in the quality of Canadian pitching showed itself in the late innings.

Consider that in the two losses, to Italy and the U.S., the bullpen allowed 15 runs from the seventh inning on. That’s not good enough to win a tournament of this magnitude.

There is talent on the horizon. Consider 21-year-old Jameson Taillon, who was dynamic in four innings against Team USA.

“There were a lot of guys that were fun to watch this week — (Michael) Saunders, (Justin ) Morneau, (Joey) Votto,” Taillon said of his first experience with Canada’s national team. “For me, it was a great experience. It’s something I can really build off for the future. Ever since I found out this was the game I was throwing, my attitude was I have nothing to lose. We had everything to gain, nothing to lose.”

The two-player highlight of the tournament for Canada was the work of Morneau and Saunders, batting fourth and fifth in the Canadian order. Morneau hit an impressive .636 in the three games, with seven hits, three doubles and three RBIs, while Saunders, who flies under the media radar in Seattle, batted a gaudy .727, with four extra-base hits, seven RBIs and a 2.042 OPS. He was named MVP of Pool D, even though Canada is not advancing.

“It’s definitely an honour,” Saunders said. “However, it’s kind of a sour taste in my mouth right now. Whenever you represent your country, it really doesn’t matter how you do, as long as you win. And that was the main focus. We played a tough game and obviously the U.S. came out on top, but we’re holding our heads high. We came to this tournament prepared and we felt like we played well. A few innings didn’t go our way. I think we showed the world that Canada is here to stay.”

What Canada does have going for it is a continuity that creates unity and chemistry. Consider that a total of nine members of this Team Canada were also in the dugout on March 8, 2006 when they shocked the baseball world. The list included Whitt and coach Greg Hamilton, Morneau, Stubby Clapp, Orr, catcher Chris Robinson, Adam Loewen, Mathieson and coach Paul Quantrill. Votto has known many of his teammates for years and weighed in on the subject.

“I’m not necessarily a believer in chemistry on a baseball team,” Votto said. “I think it’s important to have pretty good chemistry, guys getting along, but I believe in talent and execution. But in a tournament like this, where it’s so short and there’s only a few ballgames that matter, chemistry really does play an important part because there are so many momentum swings.

“If you play for the guys that you know and grew up with, no matter what you’re up against you still think you have a chance. When I play with this team, it feels like the teams I played with when I was 11 and 14 and 16 years old. It feels like the guys I grew up with and you don’t get that a lot. These are my friends and my countrymen.”

Though Canada didn’t advance, most Canadian fans will remember the adrenalin rush of the one win against Mexico and a team that fought side by side for an ultimately failed weekend.

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com